Playoff Football!

Gonna sneak in a post while I can. One weekend of rehearsals/performances down, and now a really long week of Nutcracker rehearsals ahead. But after next Monday afternoon, I'll actually get to enjoy Christmas! Sort of. I was informed that I'll be having a guest coming to town next weekend for a couple of days. Moose is coming down from the Alaskan interior to spend a few days in temps above zero! It'll be good to see her again, but it once again means I have to do the power cleaning of the apartment. I've actually gotten a good start on it, but there's much more to do!

---

As I mentioned on Facebook (I think--I can hardly remember), the state of Montana had a tremendously great weekend of football. There were THREE collegiate playoff games in this state on Saturday. Pretty good, don'tcha think? Even better, all three MT teams won! The run-down...

The Carroll College Fighting Saints beat Georgetown (KY) to earn yet another trip to the NAIA championship game in Rome, GA in two weeks. The Saints have won 6 of the last 9 NAIA titles, and I believe have more wins since 2000 than any football team at any level, including the NFL, CFL, all college divisions and high school. More on the Saints later...

The Griz manhandled Central Arkansas, and made their way back to the quarterfinals of the FCS tourney. After 10 days of intense lobbying, the game was shown on a pay-per-view basis, as were all of the second round games, thanks to the Montana and Montana State fans. As a reward, the next game for the Griz will be shown during prime time on ESPN this Friday night! Against Northern Iowa. Actually, it's a no-brainer--the game will feature the two highest ranking teams that are playing each other, and the Griz routinely put 23,000+ fans in the stands. May not be a lot for you BCS fans, but it ranks either first or second in attendance for FCS schools. Check out the game and cheer for the Griz. I can't. I'll be in a Nutcracker rehearsal...

Even Gucci's Bobcats won their game Saturday! The last time MSU had faced New Hampshire was in the quarterfinals in 1976. They won, 17-16, as UNH missed a PAT earlier in the game, and eventually won the Division II (later known as 1-AA, then FCS) title. Saturday's meeting found the Cats on top during most of the second half, but UNH got a touchdown with 6 seconds left on the clock. Then missed the PAT. And the Cats win, 26-25. And interestingly enough (though I think it's because they'll be playing top-ranked, and undefeated, Sam Houston State), the Cats will ALSO be on ESPN on Saturday afternoon!

If the Griz win (and they're projected to), and the Cats win (and they have a distinct possibility of doing so), then it sets up a Griz/Cat semifinal game in Missoula the next week! No word yet as to a bet with Gucci for that one...